I can recall riding the old "yellow" cars and the new streamliners through South Hills Junction many times as a youngster. I grew up on Mount Washington in the City of Pittsburgh during the 50s. To be specific, right on the 40 Mt. Washington street car line at the corner of Southern Ave. and Natchez St. So you would think that I was a natural Electric Rail Fan, not so, the street cars were there to take us where we needed to go Ė to school, to downtown, but most importantly to West View and Kennywood parks on picnic days. Most of these trips took me down Southern Ave. and through South Hills Junction where we would invariably stop in front of the administration building before entering that long dark tunnel. We never changed cars so there was never a reason to alight at the Junction, but the people who did so must have been special. They would get off a streetcar and scurry in and out of the Administration building, or just stand around on the porch. I always wondered what went on in that building and why those people had the privilege of going in and out. I never did get an answer but somewhere along the way I realized there was a barber shop in there, such a strange place for a barber shop, and the motormen reported for work there. I would see them come out jostling their change machine, transfers, newspapers, and those wire-based seat cushions they all seemed to use.

Iíve since moved to the other end of
the state where I developed an interest in streetcars and electric powered
railways in general. My interest is mostly from the modelers perspective and
Iíve decided to attempt to duplicate that childhood memory in miniature by
building an HO module of South Hills Junction to the standards of the East Penn
Traction Club. The module is all but complete and I exhibit it whenever possible.
In building the module I had to gather
as much information as possible, so I thought I would share that information in
this web site.

I am still gathering information so I can
add detail and make a more accurate model. I can always use more pictures,
especially of the administration building itself. Every time I see a different
picture I see more detail. If you have any pictures you would like to share,
Iíll put them in the gallery, please contact me or just send them along.